South-Carolina
South Carolina trio seeking 3rd national title in four years as March Madness start
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Sania Feagin, Raven Johnson and Bree Hall are chasing history, even if South Carolina’s trio do it a bit under the radar at times.
The three, all part of the Gamecocks’ No. 1-ranked recruiting class before the 2022 season, are seeking a third national championship in the past four years.
It’s something they’ve talked about heading into top-seeded South Carolina’s NCAA Tournament opener with 16th-seeded Tennessee Tech on Friday.
The Gamecocks (30-3) are coming off a third straight Southeastern Conference Tournament title while the Golden Eagles (26-5) are on a 17-game win streak through the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
No. 8 seed Utah (22-8) plays ninth-seeded Indiana (19-12) in the opener.
It’s a bigger, final prize that Feagin dreaming of cutting the down the nets in Tampa in a few weeks.
“I think it about it, I do,” said Feagin, whose had a career high in points, rebounds and minutes this season. “Making this kind of history for the team.”
Johnson, a highly regarded point guard in high school, played just two games during the 2022 national title season due to injury. She has started 48 of 50 games the past two years.
Hall has started all 50 games the past two seasons, although she’s averaged three fewer points this season (6.2) than a year ago as the Gamecocks became the first undefeated champions in nearly a decade.
“It’s very exciting,” Hall said. “It’s something I’ve thought about, but I try to keep present, stay in the moment.”
The group, which also included North Carolina State forward Saniya Rivers who left after the 2022 title, has been caught among some of the best and brightest Staley has brought into the program.
As freshmen, they played behind between WNBA players Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke. Last year, it was 6-foot-7 forward Kamilla Cardoso and dynamic freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley gaining the headlines.
Dawn Staley, their coach, said this group had sacrificed the most for the benefit of the program when all three could’ve followed Rivers’ choice to find success elsewhere.
“Because of their sacrifice, they put us in the position to make history,” Staley said. “You know, I love this class for that. They don’t get the credit, they don’t get the individual credit that they deserve. But they get the national spotlight because they win.”
Handling change
Just four games in, Utah’s year took a sudden turn when coach Lynne Roberts, who had led the team to the past three NCAA Tournaments, left to become coach of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.
The Utes elevated assistant Gavin Petersen and barely missed a beat for another 20-win season and a fourth straight trip to the NCAAs.
The Utes, seeded eighth in the Birmingham 2 Regional, will face ninth-seeded Indiana to start things on Friday.
“This was not on my Bingo card,” Petersen said.
Or anyone elses, although junior forward Gianna Kneepkens thought the transition took place as smoothly as possible. The team knew Petersen’s style and demeanor, so hearing his voice in charge was not a dramatic change.
“It was obviously unexpected and it was a surprise to everybody,” Rhode Island transfer Maye Toure said. “But we already knew Gavin. But also we are a player-led program, so just keep the same mindset.”
Things clicked quickly with the Utes winning nine of their first 10 games under Petersen, including a 78-67 victory over Notre Dame on Nov. 30.
“I think I hit the lottery in that regard in terms of taking over a program where they were ready to go,” Petersen said.
Dog daze
This week, Tennessee Tech’s women’s basketball account on X posted of photo of coach Kim Rosamond and her dogs, Dolly and Dean, with their own personalized NCAA nameplates. The photo also included a third nameplate for Dawn Staley’s dog, Champ.
Champ’s nameplate was next to Staley’s at Thursday’s media session, although he mostly stayed hidden behind the desk.
“I think that was a pretty cool gesture,” Staley said.
“I’m super happy for her and I’m over the top that she would extend such a nice gift to my boy,” she continued.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.
Pete Iacobelli, The Associated Press
South-Carolina
Mandatory evacuations for Greenville and Pickens Counties amid South Carolina wildfires: What we know
Mar 26, 2025 05:37 AM IST
Residents of Greenville and Pickens Counties have been ordered to evacuate as wildfires intensify across South Carolina.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – A combination of drier air behind yesterday’s cold front and gusty winds has brought a return of elevated fire danger to South Carolina.
First Alert Headlines
- Warm and breezy at times this afternoon!
- Elevated fire danger has returned to South Carolina.
- Staying dry and warm through the rest of the work week.
First Alert Summary
Good morning! Yesterday’s cold front has moved offshore, with high pressure sliding in behind it. With high pressure in control, we’ve got a nice day ahead! Under sunny skies, high temperatures will reach the upper-70s.
Another weak cold front is marching towards the Midlands for the middle of this week. Today, since we’re ahead of the approaching boundary, wind gusts will pick up, which means elevated fire danger returns to the region. Please avoid any burning or lighting open flames while spending time outdoors.
Late tonight and into Wednesday, our weak cold front passes through. Our atmosphere is moisture-starved, which means we’re staying dry. However, this front will be effective in dropping our high temperature Wednesday and Thursday.
Through the rest of the work week, we’re staying dry! By the upcoming weekend, we’ll be tracking another disturbance headed for South Carolina. With it, we’ll have our next round of rain.
First Alert Forecast
Today: Skies full of sunshine. Breezy, with highs in the upper-70s.
Tonight: Mostly clear skies. Lows drop to around 50 degrees.
Wednesday: Lots of sunshine. Highs in the mid-70s.
Thursday: Sunshine continues. Highs in the low-70s.
Friday: Partly cloudy skies. Highs in the upper-70s.
Saturday: Peeks of sunshine through cloudy skies. Highs around 80 degrees.
Sunday: Scattered showers and a few thunderstorms. Chance of rain 40%. Highs near 80 degrees.
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Copyright 2025 WIS. All rights reserved.
Nathan Hall came mere inches from making the potential play of the afternoon for South Carolina.
With two outs in the second inning on Sunday, Arkansas catcher Ryder Helfrick swung at the first pitch from Jarvis Evans Jr. and lifted a flyball into the outfield. With the wind blowing out, the ball kept carrying and sent Hall back to the wall where he had a chance to rob Helfrick of a home run. But he ran out of room as it barely went over the fence for a solo shot to put the Razorbacks on the board.
“It was one of those balls that I thought I had time to get under. It kind of just took off,” Hall told GamecockCentral. “I kind of got stuck between the wall, and I jumped up. I think it was absolutely a ball I can catch. That one hurts a little bit, but he put enough of a good swing on it to just hit it out of reach for me.”
Aside from that, Hall put together another solid weekend, especially at the plate. The junior centerfielder was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise rough series for the Gamecocks as they were swept by Arkansas.
Hall picked up a hit in each of the first two games in the series then had a three-hit game on Sunday to close things out. He led off with a solo homer into right field on the second pitch of the game to give South Carolina an early lead.
“My approach as of late has kind of just been to stay right center. I’ve been hooking a lot of balls and pulling a lot of balls on the ground,” he said. “I think being able to kind of follow the approach that Monte (Lee) gives us, which is to stay to the big part of the field and let your swing work, is exactly what I did. And that one did feel good.”
Hall also reached base in seven of his 13 plate appearances over the three games. He leads the team in hitting by a wide margin with a .389 batting average, 32 points higher than the next-best hitter, Ethan Petry, who’s hitting .357 this year.
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Due to how well he’s swung the bat, Hall is now hit safely in each of his last 15 games. He’s still got a ways to go before making a run at Gene Cone’s program-record 31-game hit streak back in 2016. But he’s given the Gamecocks everything they could’ve wanted at the top of the order.
“I like to think that I do a good job leading by example. I try my best to help the guys be confident and get them to believe in themselves,” Hall said. “Because I know what it feels like to have the weight of the world on your shoulders. It’s a tough game. We do our best.”
While Hall has found plenty of individual success, the team as a whole has not. South Carolina is now 1-5 to begin SEC play. Despite how well Hall played, he said it “does really suck” to endure another series sweep. But he’s still fully confident that they can turn the corner and get back on track in due time.
“I’m gonna continue to continue to do everything I can to try and help my team win. I think I fully believe that we have the talent to beat teams like this. I feel like it’s only a matter of time. We need other guys to start believing in themselves,” Hall said.
“Struggles happen. It’s a game of failure. I think we’re going to come around. No one believes in us still. We lose in these situations, makes sense. But as long as we stay positive, I think we can still stay in it.”
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